Juneteenth Celebration Highlights Culture and History at Fair Park

The Blair Foundation and the Elite News will host the North Texas Juneteenth Celebration, March, and Festival on Saturday, June 18, 2022, from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm at Fair Park. The event will feature local black-owned vendors, live entertainment, concessions, health and beauty expos, tech and panel discussions addressing topics indicative of personal and community advancement, a Kid Zone filled with kid-friendly activities, and other cultural activations to celebrate the national holiday. All programs and activities are free and open to the public.

"This is an educational and empowering celebration that brings communities and cultures together," said Darryl J. Blair, Publishing Editor of the Elite News. "The Blair Foundation and many other community leaders and partners want to utilize this holiday to celebrate unity, diversity, and inclusiveness."

Sponsors for the Juneteenth Celebration include HEAL AMERICA, Gas it up, Luster Hair Products, HSC Black Alzheimer's Brain Study, Elite News, Blair Foundation, Dallas College, Microsoft, Chase, Fair Park First, OVG360, and other notable sponsors.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, traveled to Galveston, Texas, to announce to over 250,000 enslaved people that they were free. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier, but the word had not reached Texas. The Dallas Historical Society has the only known original copy of the General Orders, and they will be on display at the Hall of State during the Juneteenth Celebration.

For more information about the event, visit www.northtexasjuneteenthcelebration.com.

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